Chapter Seven

“We’re going to stop for the night.”

“Why?”

“We need rest.” He pulled up to a cute bed-and-breakfast. “You need your shake, and we need food.”

She turned around and reached into the back seat. “Wouldn’t want the skinny chick to embarrass you. I’ll down this maybe I’ll gain a pound or two.”

“I’m sorry Tempest. I didn’t mean what I said.”

“What?” The shake went down the wrong way causing her to cough and wheeze.

“I’m sorry.”

“If you didn’t mean it why did you say it?”

“I was protecting myself and trying to drive you away. What was I supposed to say? I couldn’t tell you that you were beautiful, and your slender body attracts. That would scare you away. If I told you that your hair looks like honey, and I want to bury my nose in it, I would probably sound strange. What if I told you that your eyes are violet, and the light in them gives me an instant erection? You would tell me to keep my lecherous gaze to myself.”

She searched his eyes with wonder. “You actually find me attractive?”

“Have you forgotten what happened on the couch already?” He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on her lips before getting out.

“Let’s go see if they have a room available.” He took her hand and led her up the stairs.

“You’re going to have to tell me how you keep these shake's cold.”

“It’s a created secret.” He winked at her before they walked through the door.

She stopped in the doorway turning her head to take it all in. The foyer was small and led to a living room that was open and easy to see. The whole place was done with vintage pieces that looked like they were antiques. The pictures on the wall looked like they could sell for millions. She was almost afraid to walk in for fear of damaging something, and there was no way she wanted to sit on the furniture.

“This place is amazing,” she whispered as they approached the desk.

“Hi,” the woman behind the counter smiled.

“Hi, we are looking for a room.” Lucca smiled at her and pulled Tempest closer.

“I have one room available.”

He took care of all the arrangements as she looked around some more. In the corner of the living room sat a dream catcher. It was out of place in this home that looked like it could be in a magazine of collectibles. Her feet moved across the room. She needed to get a closer look at it. The palms of her hand itched with the desire to touch it even as she knew she shouldn’t.

“Menace?” She heard Lucca’s softly asked question but was unable to stop moving.

“She doesn’t want to touch that.”

The woman was wrong she wanted to touch it. The dream catcher wasn’t ordinary instead of feathers, there were small glowing rocks on it. They called her name beckoned her to come forward faster. They wanted to be stroked. There was a story locked within them, and they wanted to share it.

She touched the rock that was screaming her name just as Lucca curled his arm around her waist. Together they plunged into a dark void.

Great, she did it again. She touched the wrong thing, spoke to the wrong person and ended up some place she didn’t want to be. When would she ever learn? Obviously, not today.

“Are you alright?” She nodded her head before she realized it was probably too dark for him to see her.

“I’m fine, you?”

“I’m in one piece. Where did you take us?”

“I didn’t take us anywhere it was that rocks fault.”

“Let me get this right. We were in a nice bed-and-breakfast with a king-size bed waiting for us to plop down on it. Now we’re on the ground, and you're blaming it on a rock?” He frowned to keep from laughing.

“Yeah, I knew you would understand.”

“Alright menace where did the rock take us?”

“I don’t know.”

He stood and pulled her up after him.

“Can you see?”

“I can.” She nodded her head before gripping his hand tighter.

They walked until a small speck of light punched a hole into the darkness. Raising a hand, she touched rock.

“Are we in a cave?”

“Looks that way.” They walked until finally, they were standing at the mouth of the cave. The sun was rising allowing rays of light to penetrate the cave behind them.

“I want to go on record as saying I officially hate caves and hope to never see another one.”

“You can’t hate caves; you'll miss all the good things like spelunking, stalactites, and stalagmites.” He kept up a ready roll of banter keeping her from focusing on her surroundings until they were on flat land.

“Lucca, can a rock take us back in time?”

He knelt down and touched the land. It had never been walked on by man. The trees, the air even the few creatures that were in the sky told a story of life, death, and extinction. Everything around them proudly proclaimed they had lived once upon a time.

“It looks that way.”

“Why are we here? Didn’t we get to the cave fast enough?”

“Why go to the cave when you can come see me here?”

She shivered at the sound of that voice. It was the shadow that continued to hunt her. How had it known where she was while having enough power to pull her back in time?

“I wasn’t expecting a guardian; this is a surprise.”

She turned around in a circle looking for the voice, but the sun had dispelled all the shadows.

Lucca raised his hands.

“Sorry, not this time.”

She felt a force grab her by the arm and star. Lucca grabbed her other arm pulling in the opposite direction.

That evil laugh that she hated bounced over the tree tops and made the grass underneath her feet wilt.

“Keep pulling guardian, we will tear her in half. How marvelous.”

They were going to tear her in half because Lucca wasn’t letting go. Death had come for her much more quickly than she anticipated. She turned her head to look at Lucca, she wanted him to know he made the last days of her life worthwhile.

“You don’t get to die on me menace.” He let her go.

Everything in him screamed out in pain as he watched her being dragged away from him. Whatever evil that surrounded her was right. If one of them didn’t give, she would be torn asunder. Forcing himself not to go after her almost killed him. Instead, he sat on the ground and closed his eyes. He crossed his legs paying respect to the strong article that brought them here.

Looking inside himself was as attractive as poking his eye out, but he would do it for Tempest.

He followed the wisp of thought that was roaming around his head. The sky overhead became lavender, and his surroundings were barren, not lush with life.

“The Scientists chose well when they chose the beast to place within me.” His voice was so young it astounded him.

“Why do you say that?”

Dante was leaning back on his arms looking up at the sky.

The two of them were spending time together. Something his older brother constantly did, taking one of them and going for a walk, so they could talk.

“It’s a bruiser it lives to kill. He was so happy when we fought and killed the invader.”

“You think your beast doesn’t know family?”

“We’re not talking about family. You’re talking about mates, and we both know there are none of those in our future. The answer to your question is no. My beast will never mate; he has no desire to.”

“Everyone desires a mate. They don’t all admit it though. Remember you have more than one beast in you. When you find your mate, there will be a spark, and that spark will always connect you. That’s how you will always be able to find her.”

He opened his eyes. How had he forgotten that conversation? Right, he lived so long that he had forgotten more than most would ever know.

Spark? He smiled, but it wasn’t happy. The spark was a cord as fragile as the wind. The connection was almost invisible. He could only see it if he looked sideways, but as long as it was there, he had a way to find her.

He stood and disappeared moving through the area until he landed, and then he followed the spark again as far as he could see. It would take longer to get to her, but it was faster than walking. He could just materialize by her side, but he couldn’t see the surrounding area and becoming part of a wall was ill advised.

*~*~*~*

Whatever had her, and she didn’t know what it was, planned to get rid of her quickly.

“Have you ever wondered how to get rid of the very air around you? Do you create a vacuum?”

There was a hum around her. It felt gleeful, yet the gleefulness of it was evil. She was spread eagle in the air which he was using to keep her in place. The bonds holding her were so tight she couldn’t move.

Not able to defend herself; she tried to remember a time before she was pressed into service as one of the daughters of the Earth. She quickly abandoned that thought. She would rather spend her final minutes thinking of Lucca. The smile that he wore teased her. Most times she thought it was involuntary. He didn’t know he was smiling, he just didn’t seem to be able to help himself when he was around her. Of course, he frowned a lot as well.

His laughter went through her head as she thought of him. Then there was the way he said menace. It was with a caress as if the word itself was something that tasted just right. Oh hell, his fingers on her and in her. There could never be a life with him, even if she was free, but right now as she was saying goodbye to everything at least she could dream.

“That’s it; I'll place you in a vacuum. Not only will you not be able to breathe, but the wind the very thing that keeps you strong will be not be able to help you.”

“Why?”

“You feed my enemy.”

It was just her luck to be captured by a deranged evil shadow.

“Let’s make a deal. I’ll stop feeding your enemy, and you let me live. That should work out for all parties involved.”

“You have no idea, how long I attacked that cave waiting for you to wake up so that I could kill you. As long as you were in there, you were safe. Finally, you’re out. There will be no deal. You should have never let him violate you.”

There’s that word again. “What are you talking about? Who are you talking about?”

“Shh,” maniacal laughter surrounded her touching her body physically as if it had hands.

Each touch burned her skin preparing her for death. Her eyes closed as the burns came faster. There was no need to look for them because she couldn’t see where the next touch would come from.

She choked on the desire to scream even as she felt an object being placed over her mouth hindering both her breathing and her voice.

Death was coming for her, and all she could do was go gracefully. There was no more fight inside of her.